Pillows

One thing about living in a temporary apartment is that it really is a work in progress... always. One room I am still not satisfied with is our bedroom. My imagination pictures something much more fresh and delicate. Perhaps you remember the furniture redo back in January? That was certainly a step in the right direction. I also stumbled across this pillow from an acquaintance's blog, and was inspired.

So, last Friday on my day off I hit Goodwill and bought a pile of white linens - cream colored bedsheets, organic cotton; off-white flannel pillowcase; sheer valence; white embroidered valence; cream muslin curtain with ruffle. I had some cream colored lace at home that I threw into the bunch, and I also picked up some scraps at Wal-mart of a thin white cotton, and a tannish linen for less than a dollar total. I bought  three good-sized pillows at Goodwill (and disinfected them thoroughly), and used some stuffing I already had. Altogether I spent almost $15.

lace with lace rosettes

The rosettes were fun to make, and super easy. I took a strip of fabric, tucked the ends in and then circled    the fabric around the center, pinning as I went. The lace ones I only tacked to the pillow, but for the heavy linen and cotton I stitched the rosettes together as individual pieces and then tacked them to the pillow so that they would be more secure.

ruffled curtain

This pillow really made itself. I loved the curtain as a scrap of fabric, hated the curtain as what it was intended. I didn't play around with it long, before the ruffle fell diagonally down the center. 

Underneath this pillow and the following two are the pillows I bought. Because they were dark in color I had to cover them first with the sheet.

pillow covered in the bed sheets, with rosettes of assorted materials

Two of the pillows I got were the same size, so I made my pillows similar in look. I love the lace rosettes.

The two "matching pillows" were my variety on the inspiration. I love the array of materials. My middle, pointer fingers and right hand thumb are numb from sticking a needle into the stiff pillow over and over.

Embroidered valence - simple and sweet

This pillow was a snap. All I had to do was stitch three ends of the valence together and slide the pillow in.

Ta-Da!